CHANEL – Les Essentiels de CHANEL Fall 2012 Le Vernis #559 Frenzy, #561 Suspicious and #563 Vertigo & Comparisons

Before I even began swatching the new trio of nail varnishes from CHANEL’s fall 2012 ‘Les Essentiels de CHANEL’ collection (reviewed in my previous post here), I had already started thinking of possible look-a-like contenders; naturally, I wanted the duplicates to be as identical as I could find them and since these particular shades aren’t too outrageous, I figured it would be relatively easy to find a few döppelgangers. Uh, not so much. But some interestingly close relatives were found just the same.

Finding a #561 Frenzy clone wasn’t as hard as I originally thought, but even so, most of the bottles I culled from my stash were either too pale, too grey, or too pink. I finally opted for Essie’s ‘Miss Fancy Pants’ from the brand’s fall 2012 collection (previously reviewed here). The following swatches are all with Seche Clear Base Coat and Seche Vite Top Coat. Coats applied – 2 (for each) and how it compared:

middle & ring fingers: CHANEL #559 Frenzy
index & pinkie fingers: Essie ‘Miss Fancy Pants’ – a definitely thicker formula, more grey tinged and a few degrees deeper in tone, bearing similarities in opacity, self-levelling application and high gloss shine at the finish

in sunlight

in shade

with flash

I immediately knew which shade I wished to compare #561 Suspicious to, and that was none other than CHANEL’s #541 ‘Tentation’ from one of the brand’s spring 2012 releases (previously reviewed here), although I was concerned about the differing finishes but I felt that the base colour was identical enough to warrant a comparison. Once more, all swatches were done using Seche Clear Base Coat and Seche Vite Top Coat, using 2 coats of lacquer for both. Here’s how it compared:

middle & ring fingers: CHANEL #561 Suspicious
index & pinkie fingers: CHANEL #541 Tentation – a hybrid jelly/crème formula, which seems to give this shade more elasticity on application, several degrees more vibrant and pink-leaning when viewed live – most probably due to the multitude of fuchsia and blue tinged ultra-fine shimmer it’s filled with, same opacity and ease of application but not as glossy at the finish.

in sunlight

in shade

with flash

The final shade, #563 Vertigo proved to be more of a challenge and I was pretty sure that I had absolutely nothing like it in my collection. On the one hand I was right, but still found myself surprised to pull out at least 2 possibilities – both found amongst my Diors – ‘Ebony’ from the Mitzah Collection (previously reviewed here) and ‘Underground’ from the ‘Rock Your Nails Collection’ (previously reviewed here), and then decided to add CHANEL’s #509 ‘Paradoxal’ (previously reviewed here) to the equation, primarily because it offers the same mysterious shimmer as that of ‘Vertigo’, although the intensity of ‘Paradoxal’s’ hue is visibly way off. All swatches are with Seche Clear Base Coat and Seche Vite Top Coat. Coats applied – 2 for each. Here’s how they compared:

index finger: Dior ‘Ebony’ – the thinnest formula of them all, more brown based and bearing sparse silvery flecks that are almost invisible to the naked eye
middle finger: CHANEL #563 Vertigo
ring finger: Dior ‘Underground’ – the thickest formula of the group, although with a similar flow to that of ‘Vertigo’, more prune based and bearing scant silvery flecks that add depth, but are not visible unless seen in direct sunlight/flash
pinkie finger: CHANEL ‘#509 Paradoxal’ – identical formula to that of ‘Vertigo’ and similar concept of a “muddied tone filled with complex shimmer”, obviously more deep mauve/purple leaning but with that same enigmatic look to it

in sunlight

in shade

with flash

Final thoughts: From the three lacquers of the ‘Les Essentiels de CHANEL’ Collection, the 2 that I would have to say are the most easily duplicated, are without a doubt #559 Frenzy and #561 Suspicious, although even at that, you would be hard pressed to find an exact match or come close to CHANEL’s stellar formula and application. Looking at the comparisons to #563 Vertigo, it is clear that there really is NOTHING like it out there, although if you theoretically combined Dior’s ‘Ebony’ and ‘Underground’, you’d probably come very, very close. Theoretically. My final verdict? I’m pleased to say that all three CHANELs can definitely hold their own in anyone’s collection, but if it’s something unique, off-the-wall, and one-of-a-kind that grabs your fancy, then you should definitely snag #563 Vertigo — while you still can!